Alexandra Trusova: I always wanted to do what nobody does

Interview with Alexandra Trusova. About quads, her family and comments on Internet.

Sasha, do you remember the times when you came to figure skating? Or have you been wearing ice skates in an unconscious age?

– No, I remember everything perfectly. When I was 4 years old parents gave me roller skates. I quickly learned how to skate and did not take them off at all – even during dinner. I was ready to sleep wearing them. After that, we decided that in September I should go to the ice rink. But there everything was different. At first I didn’t go to the ice without my dad. Then my mother and grandmother “guarded” me at the boards for a year.

What was your morning like?

– I got up at 7.45, although I could have got up later, but I do not like to lie in bed for a long time. I had breakfast, did my homework. Then I went to the rink – from 10 am we had a choreography. At 11.25 practice on the ice began, until one o’clock.

You said you went to the rink, that’s mean you live close by and you do not have tedious trips through the whole city in traffic jams?

– Yes, my family lives close to the rink, 10 minutes of walk.

Your family is …

– Mom, Dad and two younger brothers.

So soon we’ll have another Plushenko?

– No! The youngest is only three years old, so he does not do anything yet. The second brother, who is eight years old, is engaged in judo, because our dad is a judo athlete.

Is your dad a coach?

– No, he has his own business, but in general he is a master of sports in judo, sambo and hand-to-hand combat.

Did you came to Eteri Tutberidze’s group from the beginning?

– No. Then I couldn’t do much. We came to Chrystalny, but to another coach Alexander Sergeevich Volkov. I learned all the triples with him and only then I moved to Tutberidze’s group.

When did you start to jump all the triples?

– At the age of 10.

How did the idea to try quads appear?

– I always wanted to do what nobody does. But first we did not think about quads, I wanted to do a triple axel. I have been asking Eteri Georgievna about this for a long time and finally she said: “Try”.

Why did she postpone?

– Nothing special, we just waited for the period without competitions to begin.

And how did it go?

– Axel did not work our, but at the same time coaches realized something else: I can try quads. It was a little over a year ago, then I was 12. And we started to learn quadruple salchow.

Do you remember the exact date when it turned out for the first time?

– I don’t remember the exact date, somewhere in the 20th of April.

But it was a memorable date. Have you received gifts?

– Yes, my parents gave me a pendant- a bear on a chain. I always wear it.

How long did it take to learn salchow?

– It’s hard to count. If the competitions were close, then we stopped and worked on the main program. Then again worked on quad. But in general, less than two months.

You jumped salchow, what was next?

– Vacation. We went to Italy. Then training camp. And in December we began to work on the second quadruple – toeloop.

Another 1,5-2 months?

– No, three days. It was already easier. Despite the fact that this is a fundamentally different jumps – one from the toepicks, another from the edge, but still they have much in common.

Does the coach often praise?

– For the performances at the competitions I was praised twice – at the Grand Prix of Australia and at the World Championships.

Only twice? During all this time?

– There is always something to work on. We work and do not expect that someone will praise us.

Describe Eteri Georgievna in one word.

– Strong.

Are you afraid of her?

– No I’m not afraid. Why should I be afraid of her?

She’s strict.

– That is how it should be.

Can you say that after the Worlds you woke up famous?

– I don’t know about famous, but I felt the attention. They wrote a lot about me. It was nice.

After the World Championships, they wrote not only enthusiastically about you. Some adults believe that the quads ruin your health, deprive you of childhood and in general you are a poor child.

– I’m not a poor child. Nobody forces me to do what I do. On the contrary, coaches sometimes stop me: “Too much jumping! So much is not necessary!”

And what does your mom say?

– She doesn’t interfere.

So your parents don’t force you to skate?

– Of course not. I want it myself. I get pleasure from it. And I was not deprived of my childhood either. I do everything that other children do: I ride a bicycle, go to the cinema, go to school. Let no one worry about me, I’m fine.

Injuries do not bother?

– Why do many people think that I must have injuries? I hadn’t and, I hope, I won’t have. If you do everything right, then injuries can be avoided. There was only one unpleasant story at the very beginning of my career: a girl who was skating nearby, сut my leg with a blade. We were spinning too close.

How do you feel about the words “she will grow and everything will fall apart”?

– Nothing will fall apart if I continue to work the same way.

Don’t your parents and coach forbid you to read such comments?

– They ask not to pay attention to it, to pass by. But sometimes I open an article, I go to the comments, and if I see such expressions, I immediately close it.